Taiwan News Quick Take

Staff writer, with agencies

Sun, Feb 24, 2013 - Page 3

WEATHER

Temperatures to edge up

Stable and moderate weather is expected across the nation during the Lantern Festival today, with daily highs likely to rise by 2°C, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Temperatures of 15°C to 21°C can be expected in northern areas, and 16°C to 25°C in southern areas of the nation, according to the bureau. While occasional showers are likely in northern and eastern Taiwan due to the influence of seasonal winds, western areas will likely see cloudy to sunny skies, forecasters said. Similar weather could last into Wednesday, when a cold front is expected to bring the mercury down nationwide, the bureau said.

HEALTH

CDC warns on dengue fever

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday called for public attention to the unusual increase in the number of dengue fever cases in Southeast Asian countries this year and said that people should take preventive measures if they plan to travel to endemic areas. The CDC said that according to records, Southeast Asia has been the main origin of the reported imported cases of dengue fever, a mosquito borne viral disease. This year has already seen 21 imported cases from Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar and Malaysia. Travelers to the endemic areas are advised to wear light-colored, long-sleeved clothes and apply mosquito repellents approved by the Department of Health. People returning from the endemic areas with symptoms like fever, headache and muscle or joint pain should go to a doctor and report to the health institutions immediately in order to avoid a local endemic breakout.

AVIATION

New TAIC head announced

The state-run Taiwan Airport International Corp (TAIC) on Friday announced former Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) director-general Yin Cheng-pong (尹承蓬) as its new chairperson. Yin retired from his position at CAA in July last year. Previously, he served as director general at the Department of Railways and Highways under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications as well as director-general of the Department of Aviation and Navigation. The company said Yin will replace the current chairman, Kuo Tsai Wen (郭蔡文), who will assume a post as chairman of China Engineering Consultants. The company said that Yin is familiar with the civil aviation industry and is able to lead the company to launch several major projects, including the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s third terminal and third runway.

ENTERTAINMENT

Film to be screened in US

A Taiwanese film featuring a cross-country scooter brigade of octogenarians will make its debut in the US at a film festival in San Francisco next month, the film’s director said yesterday. There will be two showings of Go Grandriders (不老騎士) during the Center for Asian American Media Festival, 31-year-old director Hua Tien-hao (華天灝) said. The film, the first feature-length documentary Hua has made, is based on the true story of 17 Taiwanese men, with an average age of 81, who embarked on a journey around the island by motorcycle to fulfill their dream of seeing every part of Taiwan. Two of them were cancer survivors, eight had heart diseases and four wore hearing aids. The movie’s box-office earnings in Taiwan alone reached NT$30 million (US$1 million), marking a record high for a documentary-like film.